A Thousand Words
by MorganaxLexFay
Summary: A piece of Kate's past emerges.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh my God." It was all Castle could say, so he said it over and over. With each turn of the page, he let the phrase slip from his lips with a little more enthusiasm. His excitement becoming so overwhelming, it was causing the other two men in the room to feel uncomfortable.

"Where did you get this?" He nearly screamed when he came to the last page. His effervescent eyes were unwilling to depart from the small book in his hands; his smile so wide it would shame a child's on Christmas morning. With exuberance, he returned to the front cover to peruse lavishly once again.

Ryan cleared his throat when he realized Castle was becoming oblivious to the world around him. "We, uh, made some calls," he said, trying to cover his tracks.

"To whom should I address my gift of gratitude?"

"Me," Esposito said, dropping a case file on the counter. "'Cause you won't be getting anymore information out of either of us. Now let's talk compensation so we can get back to work."

"Hey! But I-"

"Not now, Ryan. You'll get a share equal to your involvement in the mission, which is to say very little."

"But, you didn't-"

"I said not now!"

When their attention returned to the man with the book, they shook their heads. They'd lost him again. Allowing Castle to enjoy the moment a little longer, they picked up their coffee mugs and walked out of the room, hoping to never hear the excited, girlish squeak he'd released upon receiving the book, emanate from any man ever again. The sound of heels reverberating throughout the room had them at their desks, pretending to be engrossed in reports in seconds. Innocently, they watched as Detective Beckett made her way towards the break room, her empty coffee cup swinging from her hand.

"He's in for it, Bro," Esposito whispered while adjusting the angle of his chair to witness the show about to take place.

"You bet he is," Ryan answered, positioning himself in the same way. "How many stitches?"

"At least fifteen and two broken bones."

"Ten stitches, three broken fingers, with the possibility of corrective surgery."

"You're on."

—

Beckett watched suspiciously as Esposito and Ryan came out of the break room with conspiratorial gleams in their eyes. They'd been in there for a lot longer than it took to make two cups of coffee. Looking at her own empty mug, she rose from her chair and decided she would have to look into the situation herself, and refuel with a serving of heavenly espresso and delicious, frothy steamed milk.

She could see Castle still standing in the room as she approached, not unaware of her coworkers tracking her movement as she got closer to the door. Something was going on in there. She was sure of it. Her convictions were reinforced when she heard their whispers coming from behind her.

She peered through the glass before placing her hand on the door knob. She looked at Castle's tall frame hunched over. He was captivated by what he held in his hands. A book, she saw. Mostly, she saw only his broad shoulders relaxed, and his back curled forward, as if he was closing the rest of the world off from him. Beckett rolled her eyes and proceeded to twist the brass knob and enter the room. He didn't even react to her arrival. 'Must be reading one of his own books,' she thought.

Beckett didn't want to know, really. She didn't care what he was doing standing in the middle of the break room turning pages of a book with care, and looking at it with reverence. It was likely something she would find entirely repulsive, or egotistical, or at the very least, so immature she wouldn't be able to speak to him as an adult again.

She ignored him as she waited for the espresso shot to drip into her cup. She pretended he was somewhere far away while the steam wand hissed as it frothed the milk. It was when she combined the two of them that she let curiosity get the better of her, and she walked around the room to face Castle.

"What are you doing?" Beckett had hardly finished forming the question, when she found herself using the counter behind her to support her weight, as her laughter had her red in the face, doubled over, with tears freely falling from her eyes. Behind the mist, she could see Esposito through the window in a similar state, offering Ryan a hand off the floor. The startled, effeminate outburst from the writer before her still echoing. Though incapacitated by the stitch in her side, she noticed as Castle slipped the book inside his suit jacket as discreetly as he could manage.

"Oh my God, what _was_ that?" Beckett asked between big, gasping breaths to regain her composure.

"What was what?"

"That _noise_?" The hilarity of the moment was still causing her tremendous difficulties breathing and the pain to sharpen in her abdomen.

"Public emasculation. Are you happy now?"

Using her sleeve to wipe the moisture from her face and dab her eyes, she nearly doubled over again when she saw the color of his cheeks. Taking pity on him, she took another moment to restore her oxygen level before straightening and fixing him with a glare. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"I just did. You destroyed my masculinity, effortlessly, with many witnesses."

"Not that question."

"I have no idea what you're talking about then."

"What were you doing, Castle? Before you gave Esposito and Ryan enough fodder for a lifetime."

"I'm quite certain that I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just standing here, lost in thought when you frightened me."

"I saw the book, Castle. What was it?" There. She saw the panic flash in his eyes. Something else was there too. The way he was looking at her unsettled her a bit. "I don't have all day, Castle. Give me the book. Now."

Without another second's hesitation, he darted for the door.

"Castle!" She lunged for him, grabbing for the collar of his jacket, but he managed to evade her grasp by taking a swift step to the right. Her second attempt to thwart his escape was met with more success, being able to grab a handful of his short hair. He tried to wriggle free, but she locked an arm around his neck, pulling him back toward the center of the room; however, he surprised her by reaching behind him, grabbing her shoulder while simultaneously leaning forward and pulling her down. Beckett found herself flat on her back in the break room wondering what the hell had just happened. She managed to sweep Castle off his feet with a quick kick of her leg as he tried to flee. He landed roughly on top of her, knocking the wind from her lungs.

He was rising up off her, ready to spring for the exit again when he heard her cough and whimper ever so softly. He froze. "Kate! Are you alright? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

She rolled to her side, taking a few deep breaths, before grabbing his shoulders, flipping him onto his back and pinning him to the ground with her hand on his throat and her knee in his groin. With her free hand she deftly reached in his jacket and pulled out the book. Applying more pressure than necessary to his groin, she brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "Did you really think you could get away, Castle? Have you learned nothing from all this time you've shadowed me?" With a cruel grin, she started to get off him. Looking toward the door, she noticed their audience. Esposito and Ryan had their noses so close to the glasss, they might as well have been pressed against it. They had been watching the event with glee before running back to their desks when Beckett discovered them.

"Now, what could be so shameful that you were willing to go head to head with an NYPD detective to hide it?" She watched him squirm for a bit before looking down at the book in her hands. It looked oddly familiar. She looked at the varnished, black cover with gold embroidery around the edges in a lace-like pattern. 'Oh _no_!' She thought, 'Please tell me this is not what I think it is!' She snapped her attention back to Castle who had stood and was slowly inching his way toward the exit.

"Don't move." She watched his Adam's Apple bob as he gulped.

"I can explain."

"Stop talking."

—

Castle knew he was in for it. His life was over. He'd never get to see his baby girl grow into a beautiful woman. He wouldn't get to walk her down the aisle. He would never be able to bounce his grandchildren on his knee and teach them all the naughty things he wished Alexis had done as a child.

It was worth it, he decided. If his life was going to end at this moment in time, it was sacrificed for the greater good. He would die nobly, and turned on... Had she really just intentionally touched his groin? Damn...

He watched her run her hand over the gold stitching before opening to a random page, his favorite page actually. Her eyes closed, and he could see the pink hue rising from her neck. She let the cover fall and lifted her eyes to his. Shaking her head at him, she walked out the door, straight to the elevator. Her coffee long forgotten on the counter.

"Fuck."

–—

Reviews are motivating!


	2. Chapter 2

Lanie nearly jumped out of her skin when Kate slammed the door open and entered like a storm.

"What did he do this time?" She asked, sighing and returning her attention to the open chest cavity before her. These skirmishes with Castle that Kate was having were becoming more frequent. So frequent, in fact, that she'd dubbed them "Castle Hassles". Each Castle Hassle was more foolish than the last, and Lanie was certain that it couldn't get much worse.

If they didn't fall into bed together soon, one of them was going to die. At this point, she didn't really mind which of those scenarios played out, as long as it brought her some peace. It was hard to get work done with interruptions like these happening, and though she loved her friend dearly, she wanted to finish up with the dead bodies, so she could enjoy her time with the living ones.

Kate yelled, gesturing wildly enough for Lanie to briefly worry about her equipment becoming a casualty of her anger, "He's so unbelievable! You wouldn't believe what he's done this time!"

"I got that from the unbelievable part," Lanie said while pulling the man's heart from his chest and carrying it to the scale. She scribbled down the weight while Kate paced furiously behind her.

"This time, Lanie, this time he's gone too far!"

"You going to tell me what he's done or are you just going to wake the dead with your screeching?"

'This time? Please. Every time he's "gone too far", he's "too much", he's "such a child",' she said to herself. Upon hearing the rattling of her tools, she looked to see a book that had been thrown on the tray. "Those were sterile."

"And he will be too, by the time I'm done with him!" Lanie watched as Kate eyed the tools curiously, and she didn't want to know what she was thinking about. She rolled her eyes, removed her gloves, and picked up the book. Admiring the stitching along the edges of the cover, she opened it to random page.

"Oh my... Girl, what is this?"

"Close your mouth before you swallow a fly," she said venomously. "I might have lied before," she conceded. Embarrassed, she turned away and wrapped her arms around her torso in an attempt to comfort herself.

"I can see that." This Castle Hassle, Lanie decided, was the best by far. She continued to flip through the pages, engrossed in its contents. "How did he get this?" She asked while turning it sideways to get a better effect.

"Esposito and Ryan are in on it. I have some ideas."

"Huh." She was too busy admiring to really pay attention to what her friend was saying.

"Lanie! You're supposed to be helping me!"

"With what? I don't see what the big deal is."

"You don't? You don't see how this is going to change how any of them look at me? How they're not going to respect me? How I lose my authority because of this?"

"Please. The only one you're worried about looking at you differently is Castle, and he's been looking at you that way from the start."

Lanie watched as Kate processed her words. "Some friend you are!" Lanie saw the anger as she collected herself and grabbed the book from her hands, storming through the door the same way she had come through it.

"You see what I have to put up with?" She asked the man on the table, putting a fresh pair of gloves on her hands and reaching her hands back inside his chest.

—

Castle, who had previously been willing to risk his life going toe-to-toe with NYPD's finest to get through the door, suddenly found himself incapable of moving from the spot in which he was standing. The walls were making him feel a bit claustrophobic with all of the energy that had been exuded in their scuffle still reverberating off them.

He chanced a glance at the other two conspirators in his plot and found them with the same humbled expression he imagined he wore at that very same moment. The other men busied themselves in the work at their desk while he tried to work up the courage to take a step after her.

His eyes strayed to her coffee left steaming on the counter, untouched. He sighed and turned toward the door carrying it in his hand. She hadn't taken her jacket or her purse, so that left the morgue, or more specifically, wherever Lanie was, as her likely location. Coffee splashed over the rim of the cup onto his thumb when Esposito snagged his sleeve.

"You don't want to go there right now, Bro." At Castle's confusion he continued, "Let her vent before you try to fix things. Make sure the temptation to use her firearm has passed, not to mention the kind of pain she could cause with those scalpels. Or the rib cutters." Esposito gave a little shudder, conjuring up images of gruesome ways in which Beckett could make him beg forgiveness for trespassing into her private life. Castle knew it wouldn't take much effort for her to make him sorry for everything he's ever done wrong in his life. Adding sharpened tools into the mix was just a guarantee that it would happen almost instantaneously.

He shook off the flashes of Beckett lunging at his torso with the rib cutters and nodded in response. He licked the coffee off his stinging hand before setting the cup down on Beckett's desk and dropping dejectedly into his chair. Without a case to occupy his mind, the images drawn up by Esposito's warning came back with a force. Without a doubt, his casket would have to be closed during his wake by the time she was finished with him.

This was supposed to be fun. It wasn't supposed to cause her any embarrassment or pain. 'Guess I should have thought about that first.' Hindsight, as always, was not his friend.

'But at least I'll have the memories to last a lifetime. And damn are those some good memories.'

Every time the elevator doors slid open, his heart jumped, hoping to see Beckett return from the girl time ranting he knew was occurring, and scared that she'd be returning from that girl time ranting without releasing enough of the anger that he was sure would cause him incredible pain.

It would probably be in his best interest to run. Far away. Somewhere Kate could never get to him. Maybe Brazil? They had all that lovely tropical weather, and he was quite fond of monkeys.

'But then there are the snakes,' he thought.

Having a pet monkey in the rainforest might make up for the fact that a massive snake could drop from the canopy, unhinge its jaw and swallow him whole, leaving the search party to hunt for the monster snake with the writer-shaped blob in its midsection though. He'd call it Junior.

So involved with his fantasy world where he and Junior battled snakes with their advanced karate training, he didn't even notice Kate stepping from the elevator and walking toward her desk.

"Why are you still here?" He saw her fight herself to keep from smirking when he jumped. Thankfully, no razor sharp instruments of death were being wielded as she spoke, but he could still see the hostility in her tensed frame.

"Do you always have to sneak up on a guy like that?"

"Castle, I have three inch heels on. There isn't a person on this floor that didn't know I was here, except for you. Why are you still here?"

"Waiting for a murder." Admitting that he'd been daydreaming of adventures with Junior in the Amazon was too risky.

"Your own?" Maybe he should have confided his secret karate chopping tag team.

"If that's what it takes to make some action in this place. I mean, really, all my tax dollars are funding this. Guys lounging around, pretending to be working, drinking fancy coffee." The fire that danced across her eyes ruled out any further attempts he would make at humor. 'If I don't have humor, what do I have?'

"Leave. Now."

'I have my ruggedly handsome looks to fall back on,' he thought. "You want to grab some lunch?"

"No, Castle. I don't want you to be here. I don't want to go anywhere with you. I don't want to look at your smug face, and I don't want to listen to your questions that never end, and I certainly don't want to answer any of them. So, no, Castle. I don't want to go to lunch with you. I want you to leave, and forget what you saw today, because you're not going to be seeing it again. Ever."

"I wouldn't say never, Detective. By the way, why did you lie about it before? It's not like it's something to be ashamed of."

"Castle. Go! Now!"

"Okay, but when you're eating chinese take-out again later, you'll regret turning me down for a solid, healthy meal, complete with dessert. Like that one page with the cherries," he had to duck to avoid the stapler that flew toward his face. When he recovered from his near disfigurement via office supply, he saw her glaring at him with animosity. "Okay! I'm leaving!"

He had already hit the button calling the elevator to the floor when he strode back toward her desk. "You don't think I could have it back, do you?" Skillfully, he dodged the pen hurling towards his head as he ran toward his exit.

—

I really struggled with this chapter, but it was needed as a transition into the next. Apologies if it didn't meet the standards set by the first chapter. :P Reviews are motivating, so please let me know what you think. I really appreciate the feedback.


	3. Chapter 3

It was ridiculous, really. How angry she was. Her attempt to physically release some of that anger by launching whatever was in her reach at Castle's head had only deepened her rage. Her stapler had broken when it hit the floor, and her favorite pen had rolled beneath a desk; both attempts to maim his handsome face were unsuccessful.

So now, she sat at her desk fuming while slowly working through the mountain of paperwork that had accumulated after her last case with a pen that didn't glide smoothly and left splotches of ink wherever it dwelled too long on the formation of a letter, and having to detach each and every paperclip from the asinine chain Castle had made them into while he was bored.

She ignored her stomach protesting her commitment to finish off the pile before she left for the night.

—

The blinking cursor on his laptop's illuminated screen was slowly driving him up a wall. It just stayed in that one place and flashed, jeering at his inability to articulate the scenes playing out in his mind. A need to write exactly what he was looking at had struck hard when he held that book in his hands. Words should be dripping from his fingertips onto the keyboard, filling his screen with line after line, but those words were failing him. For the first time, he found himself thinking that it was entirely possible to have too much inspiration.

The cursor continued to mock him.

Castle pushed his laptop further back on his desk, leaned back in his chair, and propped his legs up, crossing his feet. He stared at the ceiling, allowing himself to indulge in a few more minutes of his fantasies before he would force himself to return to his work.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he stood. As tempting as staying lost in his dream world was, sitting at his desk with that damn cursor relentlessly flashing wasn't going to make the scenes come to life. He needed to get away from his laptop.

He needed her.

He knew Beckett wouldn't want to see him. She had made that abundantly clear when she made his face the target of her desk missiles, but he felt obligated to make sure she had at least eaten properly. With her slowly burning anger, she'd probably bury herself in paperwork for the rest of the night and forget to take care of herself.

And, of course, there was no one better than him to save her from herself. Resolutely, he strode out the door while placing a pick-up order at a small Italian restaurant conveniently located between the loft and the precinct.

—

The sound of the elevator doors sliding open caused her to jump. It had been a relatively quiet, uneventful week, so everyone had taken advantage of the peacefulness and gone home to spend time with their families. There was no apparent reason for anyone to be arriving at the precinct so late in the night.

Upon seeing Castle emerge, she rolled her eyes. Of course. Who else would come to the precinct at stupid o'clock at night?

"I thought I told you to go home?" She was met with a blank stare and the smell of oregano wafting form the white plastic bag hanging from his right hand. "What makes you think I'd take you up on your offer for dinner now, after I've already refused."

"What makes you think this is for you?" His retort was delivered with the same, expressionless face he wore when she first acknowledged his presence, but his tone held a jovial lilt.

"I don't see anyone else here, do you?" 

"I thought the guys could use some sustenance, since your reluctance to call it a day and save the paperwork for tomorrow usually leaves them stuck here just as long as you are."

"They're big boys, Castle. They can look after themselves." She made the warning in her voice very clear. She didn't need, nor did she want to be doted on. "As you can see, they left hours ago. By now they're probably tucked into bed all safe and sound, but I'm sure they could do with a bedtime story if you're really that invested in taking care of them."

He wasn't able to hide the grimace behind the emotionless facade, and Beckett celebrated the small victory internally. The revelry was short-lived when he placed the bag of food on the paperwork in front of her.

"I have work to do. Get that bag away, and go back home."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not leaving," he stated firmly, proud that his voice did not show the fear that her menacing scowl struck him with.

Beckett shook her head and abruptly stood, shoving the bag of food towards him, snatching up her paperwork, and started towards the conference room.

"You know what I don't get?" He followed close behind her, the food left behind on her desk. "Why you had to lie about it. It's not a big deal, really. Unless you were just waiting for me to dig it up, 'cause let me tell you, that was the best dirty little secret I've ever had the pleasure of bringing to light."

With a frustrated growl emanating from her throat, she swung the door to the conference room shut with as much force as she could muster. Unfortunately for her, Castle managed to slide his foot in the doorway.

"Ouch! If you're going to dismember me, you should probably do it somewhere other than a precinct." He entered the room, closing the door behind him, watching as she threw her work onto the table in the center of the room and then turn her back to him.

Castle wasn't sure where the courage to follow her had come from, but he hoped it stayed with him for a while. He had witnessed her intimidating persona crack hardened criminals. Being on the receiving end of that rage was a position that ranked highly on his list of places he never wanted to be, but he couldn't help but feel invigorated at the opportunity to set her further out of her element, away from her comfort zone.

"So?"

"What, Castle? So what?" She questioned acerbically, turning to face him.

"Why did you lie?"

"Because I'm not that person anymore!"

"What do you mean, you're 'not that person'? I've got to object to that. You're as hot as ever. You are so that person still. I've seen the pictures. I can be considered an expert on this topic. I've seen my fair share of attractive women, but you, Detective, in your little black modelling portfolio, legs all endless, hair gracefully gathered up by the wind, clothes barely there-"

"Castle," she began exasperated, "Wind cannot gather up hair."

"That's beside the point."

"What do you want me to say? I'm a cop, Castle. I work in a predominantly male field where I don't have to show off my legs to be objectified. All I have to do is be in the room, or outside the room, or really, just in their field of vision, and I'm a piece of meat. Being a model would just fuel the fire. I'm not that person anymore. I've earned my position here. I've earned their respect, and I didn't use the way I look to get here. I don't need a fan blowing dust in my face to get pretty pictures of the wind gathering up my hair, and I certainly did not need anyone knowing that those pictures existed. They aren't me. They're of some carefree kid that had no idea what life was going to throw at her."

"You just said wind couldn't," he stopped himself at her icy stare. Sighing, he took a few steps closer to her. "Kate, you've got to know that no one here, in this precinct, is going to think any less of you because you wore a dress, or a corset, or had your hair and makeup done. You said it yourself; they respect you. You earned that with your brilliant mind, your ability to get the job done, and with the compassion you show for the victims and their families." When she didn't retreat from his approach, he put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Not to mention, you're smokin' hot in those pictures, I mean really, what's not to like about them?"

"And another sweet moment bites the dust." She starts to pull away, but his grip on her shoulder tightens. She tenses and prepares for another fight like the one that had occurred that morning, but before she even realizes, he'd pulled her against him and pressed his mouth to hers. For a moment, she thinks about pushing him away, but the rush of ecstasy that pulses through her pushes any logical thought from her head.

Castle had once again surprised himself with his own boldness. When he felt her respond to the kiss, his bravery increased and he pushed her backwards until she was pressed against something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it caused her to press against him tightly when she had no where else to go.

Her lower back had hit the frigid, hard surface of the wooden table. The contrast in temperatures between the place where his warm hand lay, just above the cold table made each feel more extreme. The hand that was clenching her hair and the back of her neck, holding her face to his slowly made its way down her back to the hem of her shirt, not bothering to take the time with the buttons, he lifted it over her head, showing more restraint than Kate was able to. She just pulled at his shirt until the buttons popped and liberated his chest for her hands to roam.

Her bra was quickly disposed of and Castle pulled back to admire her now bare torso. He watched as her chest heaved, while she tried to catch her breath. He didn't allow her to. He reached his hand up to hold her breast, her nipple between his thumb and index finger, lightly pinching on it before bringing his mouth to it. She let her head fall back and pressed her rib cage forward in an attempt to bring him closer to her.

Having his mouth free his hands, he made better use of them by sliding them down her back, in her pants, over her ass and thighs. Taking her gasp rather than pushing him away as a good sign, his hands made the journey upwards again, so he could relieve her of the last of her clothing. His hands quickly found the zipper and he pulled her pants and underwear down in one motion. Kate was brought back to reality when she felt him pushing deep inside.

"Wait! We can't do this here," she cried weakly while angling her hips to take him further.

"There's no one else here," he responded, trailing his lips to just below her ear, and pulling her body even closer to his, moaning when she clenched her legs together. Taking that as permission to continue, he pressed against her more firmly before withdrawing. The emptiness and bereft feeling he left behind made Kate want to cry out, but he was soon filling her once again, and all she could do was moan.

Castle loved the noises he was able to draw from her. He was certain he would never tire of hearing them come from her mouth, and he used them as a guide to angle his thrusts in order to draw the loudest squeaks, moans, and gasps from her as possible.

He pulled one of her legs to his waist to open her wider and felt her body start to tighten around him. When she stifled her moan into his shoulder, he pulled her other leg around his waist and leaned her back against the table. The way she gasped as he withdrew and squeaked as he entered her again made him pick up the pace and the intensity and soon she was crying out his name and dragging her fingernails down his shoulders and back. With a final, hard thrust, he came inside her.

She whimpered and he collapsed on top of her on the table. Both struggling for air, neither willing to move. They lay like that for a while, content to feel the other against them. Castle was the first to move and Kate cried out as he pulled from her, hollow now that he wasn't filling her.

He ran his hands along her stomach, her arms, her legs, anywhere he could reach, occasionally rubbing against her clit and nipples just to hear her make a noise. He knew that she was overstimulated and exhausted but he couldn't get enough of her. Grabbing a chair, he sat down and pulled her down so she was straddling his lap. He let her head fall on his shoulder and ran his hands down her naked back, delighting in the muscular lines he felt.

"We should go home."

"Yeah," she sleepily responded.

He chuckled before dropping his hands to cup her ass again, kneading the flesh beneath his fingers. She groaned softly and leaned back to look in his eyes. She was met with raw desire, and felt him harden again against her belly. He lifted her up so he could slide back inside her, her whimper was an incredible mix of pain and pleasure. She had missed the feeling of him inside her for the few short minutes it had taken him to recover.

This time, she led the pace, gentle and slow, reveling in the feel of each other, with their foreheads pressed together. Feeling her start to tense again, Castle smiled and said, "You know, if I had known all it would have taken to get your clothes off was a kiss, I would have done that years ago."

"Stop talking," she responded, pulling on a handful of his hair.

It didn't take long for both of them to climax again.

Kate rested her forehead against his neck, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped tightly around her, his hips between her legs, and his pulse racing against her. She let herself be comforted this way for a few minutes before she let her mind start to work again, realizing what a mistake she had just made.

An atrocious, execrable mistake. There wasn't going to be a way to go back after this.

Feeling her tense in his arms, and this time in a way he knew was not pleasurable, Castle tried to break the silence and interrupt her thoughts. "So, uh, you wouldn't happen to still have that corset, would you?"

"Castle!" She tried to climb off his lap, but he held her in place.

"Relax." He attempted to calm her by placing kisses all along her neck and shoulder. She resisted as long as she could, but eventually succumbed to his soothing caresses. When he was sure she wasn't going to make a break for it again, he loosened his grip from around her. "I'm taking you home. We'll have the loft to ourselves tonight."

She nodded and rose from the chair. Maybe it wasn't so much of a mistake after all. She had feared that now he had had his fun, he would toss her aside like his adoring fans who were all too willing to give him whatever he wanted. He wanted to take her home. To his home. He wasn't done with her. He still wanted to be around her.

"You know, if I had known all it would have taken to get you to kiss me was to throw a stapler at your face, I would have resorted to that in the interrogation room that first day we met," she said demurely as she buttoned her pants.

Castle laughed as he tried to salvage his ruined shirt. "Let's go home." He offered his arm when she'd finished dressing. Picking up the bag of cold food from her desk, and making their way toward the elevator, he stopped short.

"What?" Kate was struck with fear that he'd changed his mind.

"You're forgetting the book!" With a resounding smack, his chest stung where her hand had made contact.

"Lower left drawer," she mussitated, continuing toward the elevator, leaving him to scamper to its location and dig it out from beneath the files before joining her once again.


End file.
